If you’re a fan of playing App Store QB at home, then this World of Goo [$4.99] post-mortem piece is definite must-read toilet material. In the blog posting, game creator 2D Boy talks about the sales and problems with keeping our GOTY at the top of the charts and even takes the time to discuss points of design users weren’t fans of, the promotion of the game to press, the release timing, and its overall observations about the project.
I’m still in NFL mode, so here are some highlights:
ON PRICING: 2D Boy timed the release of World at Goo, to the game’s detriment, so it would be featured for the two weeks that it was. The plan was always to price it high and then go low later, but as you’ll read in the article, you’ll find that the chart lift from price slashes isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be when all things are considered. Spoiler, though: you still make a ton of more money when a game is up on the charts.
ON PROMOTION:
There’s a lot of crap on the App Store, but 2D Boy had a couple of things going for it during the pre-launch phase: (1) it was a known, innovative property from a darling indie developer who got burned by piracy, and (2) 2D Boy was pitching this version of a two-year old game as the DEFINITIVE version, which actually, it turned out to be.
In this part of the post, 2D Boy shares some thoughts on pre-launch marketing and discusses how it got into all our heads. I’m guessing the big break was the Apple dude who replied saying that he or she was a fan. Also, there’s some discussion about hype.
ON DESIGN:
A post-launch update to World of Goo added infinite level skips. That was a direct result of, presumably, the stuff the post details in its design section. Some users weren’t huge fans of the difficulty of the puzzles and often rated the title poorly as a result of their frustration. Interestingly, 2D Boy raises the issue of App Store developers not being able to issue refunds, which is a pretty common problem on closed networks like Xbox Live Arcade or PSN.
INSTALL BASE: World of Goo has sold more units on the iPad than it has on the Steam or WiiWare by the tune of tens of thousands of more units. That’s wild when you think about it since the device we’re talking about here is young comparatively.
WORLD OF GOO iPHONE:
Don’t get your hopes up -- this is an “if” and not a “when” thing. In the pricing section, 2D Boy discusses the need to have a seriously low price point in order to compete on the iPhone part of the App Store, which is something of a bugbear considering how much work would need to be done to get World of Goo on other, smaller devices. Also, World of Goo iPhone was already canned once when plans fell through with contractors.
It’s been, oh, a little over two hours since the last dual-stick shooter hit the App Store, so I doubt you’ve been wanting for a game like Infinity Field [$1.99]. But I’m digging what Forze Field is doing with its dual-stick joint enough to bring it to your attention. Sure, it’s yet another Geometry Wars [$.99] offshoot, yet what it lacks in originality in the sound and visuals department, it makes up for with clever modes and mechanics.
There’s no real starting point in Infinity Field, but I think the campaign is a beautiful place to find your legs. As a whole, it’s paced well, allowing you get a sense of the shooting, the AI, and the different power-ups without stress. But it’s also a great place to find some continuity and a sense of progression -- two things a lot of dual-stick shooters lack.
Of course, there are a healthy amount of one-off modes to choose from if campaign isn't your thing and these modes are really unique or abstract takes on the genre. "Snake," for example, puts a tail on the end of your ship that steadily grows as you kill. The catch here is that you aren’t blowing up stuff with bullets. Instead, you’re using a laser leash that connects the ship to the tail, cutting enemies while moving around in circles.
"Zombie" is a great example of the more abstract of the offerings. This mode has you firing a special attack stream that incapacitates the vast majority of enemies, but doesn’t clear them off the map. Interestingly, the only way you can kill these “dead” foes is by hitting a bomb power-up that appears every so often.
As you’d expect, your finger or thumb can sometimes get in the way of the action, but there’s some cool mitigation of this common bugbear. Levels are presented at a tilt, giving you a great angle on the action. Also, as soon as you take your both fingers off the iPad, the game auto-pauses, giving you time to re-adjust without causing you problems.
I should note that there are some awesome two-player options in the one-off modes as well, including some neat iPod-to-iPad connectivity. If you don’t have rich friends, relax; two people can play on one tablet, too, and it looks rad, though presumably a little clumsy in practice.
You’ll find more “good” peppered throughout the design. I think the power-ups in particular are solid. Most won’t change your approach to the core game, but there are a couple, like the leash, that radically change-up the pacing mid-game.
I’m also a fan of the AI behavior and scripting. Sure, there are a couple of obvious genre throwbacks in terms of enemies, but there’s enough unique stuff here to freshen up the experience.
The one spot I’d criticize are the visuals in particular. While the particle stuff on the explosions are great, I think the art comes off as a little flat. The game just doesn’t pop like it should. Also, the look is very Geometry Wars, which is a bummer. There's still room for creative interpretations of retro-style shooters.
That said, cool game. If you’ve been sinking hours and hours into dual-stick shooters like Minigore [$.99 / HD] or Geometry Wars, this will be your jam, easily. Check it out.
Just when I thought we were finished posting things about Valentines Day today, I get an email from FDG Entertainment regarding their newly released completely free Cover Orange Valentine's Gift [iPhone / iPad]. FDG is following Chillingo's lead with their not-quite-a-lite-version of Cut the Rope, Cut the Rope: Holiday Gift [iPhone / iPad] with a similar not-quite-a-lite-version of Cover Orange [99¢ / HD].
We liked the original Cover Orange quite a bit in our review, and if you missed the game while it was free a while ago, here's your chance to give it a spin in this Valentines themed version of the game. As an aside, I wonder if we're going to see similar enthusiasm from developers during all holidays this year. I secretly have my fingers crossed for an Angry Birds Mardi Gras update, because seriously, how rad would that be?
What’s the best way to celebrate Valentine’s Day? I think the dudes over at Zepto Lab would argue that dishing out flowers, sugar, and frilly things to the special person in your life isn’t the right way to go about it. No, it’d probably want you to dig into its special V-Day update for Cut The Rope [.99 / HD] and pass on all the usual lovey-dovey junk.
As for that update, expect to see Om Nom with Cupid wings in 25 additional levels filled with themed art including half candies and pleasant backgrounds. Also, the game will soon reflect the change with a new, presumably adorable, themed icon.
Here’s a video of the new levels in this new “box.” Publisher Chillingo tells us that new features are coming alongside the new levels:
Not bad for free, right? But even if you don’t own the game, it’s definitely a lot cheaper than a box of chocolates. Give your mate some Cut The Rope. You’ll save money and, if he or she gets hooked, you won’t have to listen to their crap all night long! Bonus!
Stop me if you've heard this one before: Game developers are building a game that has various advocacy groups worked up before it's even released. In this particular incident of this all too familiar news story, immigration advocates are up in arms over the upcoming game Smuggle Truck by Owlchemy Labs, creators of Super Ramen BROTHers [Free]. In the game, players take control of a pickup truck loaded with illegal immigrants attempting to cross the US border. Looking at the trailer, gameplay seems similar to a amped up version of Mr. Onions, a seemingly similar physics-powered platforming game that I had a great time with.
News of this hit the Associated Press yesterday, which really couldn't possibly be better for Owlchemy Labs as it seems like everyone (ourselves included) is feverishly republishing this story in one form or another. The good news is, not everyone is taking this so seriously, as thankfully there are still some people in this world who can differentiate video games from reality. The very same Associated Press story also includes the following very choice quote from Steve Kropper, co-director of the Massachusetts Coalition for Immigration Reform:
"In America, we are used to trivializing everything," said Kropper. "I think 'Smuggle Truck' will do to the immigration debate what 'Angry Birds' did to ornithology."
If all goes as planned, Smuggle Truck should be available in March.
Back in January of last year, developer Gaia released a unique game into the App Store called Sword & Poker [$2.99/Lite]. Similar to how games like Puzzle Quest 2 [$4.99] or Dungeon Raid [$2.99] wrapped a simple match 3 mechanic around an engaging RPG system, Sword & Poker is build around making poker hands from a 5x5 grid of cards and fleshes out the experience with all the usual RPG trappings of leveling up and upgrading equipment. It’s a formula that we really enjoyed when we reviewed the game upon release, and the sequel Sword & Poker 2 [$3.99/Lite] offered even more of this satisfying gameplay when it released several months later.
Then, for whatever reason, both Sword & Poker games and accompanying lite versions disappeared from the App Store late last year. Even more puzzling is that the titles still appeared in the App Store but if you actually tried to download any of them you were met with a message that they were no longer available. I had since emailed Gaia, as did many members in our forums, to see if I could find out what the deal was. Unfortunately none of us ever received a response.
While we still don’t know the reason for their absence, Sword & Poker, Sword & Poker 2, and both lite versions have since become available for download once again. I can’t say for sure if something like this will ever happen again, so I would suggest that if you’ve had interest in any of these titles you should waste no time picking them up just in case. At the very least give the lite versions a try, as both Sword & Poker titles offer a fun and unique experience that shouldn’t be missed, and it's great to see them finally return to the App Store.
After seeing a ton of success with their massive holiday 99¢ sale, the folks at EA Mobile are once again going on a discount binge. While not quite as extensive as that previous sale, a number of EA titles have temporarily dropped to 99¢ as part of an "I ♥ 99¢ Sales" sale. Check out the following list of discounted games which are directly linked to the App Store:
The sale is said to run for 48 hours, so make sure and grab whatever you like while it's currently discounted. We'll keep our eyes on AppShopper.com to see if any new titles are added to this sale, as several new games were added to the sale just as I've been working on this post. Also, there's still a load of EA titles that are still 99¢ from their last big sale, so it may be worth rummaging through their catalog to see if there's anything you may have missed.
We first reviewed Big Blue Bubble’s Burn the Rope [Link] back in late December, and really enjoyed the unique gameplay despite a few minor complaints. Among these were the lack of Retina Display graphics or Game Center, and an annoying bug that made it difficult to burn a rope around tight corners, thus making it harder to 100% a level for a gold medal. Then last month, Burn the Rope received a substantial update taking care of most of these complaints. Game Center was integrated with leaderboards and achievements, that nasty bug that prevented 100% completion on levels was fixed, and 16 brand new levels were added to enjoy.
I had previously said when the last update came out that the only thing left that I wanted to see out of Burn the Rope was support for Retina Display, and with today’s update my final demand has been met. The Retina Display support really makes the graphics pop, but Big Blue Bubble didn’t stop there. This update also contains another 16 brand new levels, as well as 3 new insects to deal with and new bonus rounds to complete.
The first new bug is the firebug which will explode when ignited by your flame and burn everything within its blast radius. Next are electric bugs which travel in pairs and once one is ignited it will shoot a bolt of electricity to its partner that will start an additional flame burning in a different area of the puzzle. Finally, water bugs will extinguish a flame that comes into contact with them, so you must make sure to have another flame burning somewhere before encountering them.
Also new in this update are bonus rounds which can be played upon completion of certain levels in the campaign. Here you’re given a puzzle that is crawling with a ton of bugs and the goal is to try and burn as many of them as possible before a short timer runs out. These levels are a fun break from the normal ones that can require some intense strategizing.
Burn the Rope was a fun puzzle game to begin with, and it got even better with these past two updates. Now that Retina Display support has been added, I can’t really see how it can be improved any further aside from just adding more levels to play through. There are now a total of 112 levels including all the new ones, so Burn the Rope is definitely a good investment for the amount of content it contains. The game is currently still on sale for 99¢ though the developer has stated the price would to up to $1.99 with this latest update, so it can change any time. If you have yet to grab Burn the Rope, now would be a great time to do so with so much content added since the initial release.
I can hardly believe it myself, as the past year has just flown by, but GDC is once again right around the corner. Taking place in San Francisco, California starting February 28th and running until March 4th, GDC is basically the event to be at if you're a game developer of any kind. In recent years, GDC events have almost completely been taken over by iOS developers. If you're a TouchArcade reader, expect an overwhelming avalanche of cool iOS gaming news and previews that week just like in 2009 and 2010.
If you're an iOS developer, read on.
First off, if you're on the fence regarding whether or not you're attending GDC, I really can't think of a better event to go to as an iOS developer. The amount of networking there is to be done there is absolutely insane, as the event is absolutely loaded with many different media outlets and oodles of like-minded developers eager to share and discuss ideas. It's also not too late to register, find a hotel, and score some plane tickets that aren't ridiculously expensive yet.
If you're an iOS developer and already plan on coming, awesome. We'd love to meet up with you if you have something new, cool, and/or exciting to show us. Shoot us an email at tips@toucharcade.com with "GDC 2011" somewhere in the subject so it gets picked up and properly highlighted by our email filters. We'll set up a meeting, likely at or near The Marriott, and we'll see you there.
If you just want to say "Hello!", or you enjoy drinking, we'll be hosting a get together (or "mixer" I suppose the cool kids are calling them now) at Bin 55. Bin 55 is the bar right inside the previously mentioned Marriott's lobby, you can't miss it. We'll be there from 8:00 PM Wednesday night until they kick us out. When you get there, track down someone from TouchArcade and we'll give you a fancy TouchArcade tyvek bracelet which will get you access to all the beer and/or mixed drinks you can (safely) drink.
We're totally excited for GDC this year, and can't wait to see everyone there. Incidentally, the first day of GDC is also my birthday, so if you schedule a meeting with us after the 28th and I suddenly seem wiser, that's likely why.
In my time with TouchArcade, I've played a lot of games. Heck, a good chunk of my day is devoted to picking up where I left off the previous day on the AppShopper new games listing, and looking through every single game that appears on the App Store. Anything that even looks vaguely interesting I'll download and spend a fair amount of time with. Why is this at all relevant? Well, since I'm up to my ears in iPhone gaming the whole week, I try to unplug as much as possible during the weekend, unwinding away from the world of iOS.
But why am I telling you all this? So you realize just how big of a deal it is when I spend the entire weekend playing a game. Not because I'm powering through it to review it, but because it's so much fun that I can't put it down. In fact, I completely drained my iPad batteries twice before just giving up and playing plugged in to the wall. I'm telling you all this so you realize just how fantastic Mika Mobile's Battleheart [$2.99] is before I even get started on why.
Many developers have tried their hands at making iOS RPG style games, Aralon: Sword and Shadow being the latest and greatest example of a traditional RPG arriving on the App Store. But where Aralon and so many other games fail is that they're great games that just so happen to run on the iOS platform, rather than being a great iOS game. It's a distinction that becomes clearer and clearer as time goes on, as developers split between sticking with largely conventional controls adapted to the touchscreen in the form of virtual controls and developers who create games like Battleheart that could only exist utilizing the multitouch interface of iOS devices.
Battleheart takes traditional RPG elements found in party-based RPGs and even to some extent MMORPGs and boils them down to their essence. At its core, gameplay consists of managing a four member party through various battles. There isn't really any story to speak of aside from random flavor text describing characters and levels, characters only have four equipment slots, and there's only two statistics for each class to even worry about. In my early time with the game the latent RPG power gamer inside of me initially thought that how simple everything initially seems to be was a significant drawback, but oh, how wrong I was.
Instead of endlessly delving through menus, min-maxing, and everything else, the entire focus of Battleheart is fantastic party synergy and touch-based battle management. Playing through the game slowly unlocks additional classes available via an in-game tavern where they can be hired. A wide variety of classes are included, but they all fall under the three standard class roles: Damage dealers, meat shields, and support classes. As you progress in the game, intense micromanagement is required of each of these types of classes, and it's incredibly cool how it all goes together.
For instance, the party that I've found myself preferring consists of a monk, a witch, a cleric, and a bard. At the start of the battle I'll get my bard to start playing his song targeting the monk, get the cleric healing the monk, then position them towards the back of the battlefield spaced apart a little bit. I'll position my witch in the center, then put the monk on patrol picking up monsters as they appear on screen. The monk then holds their attention (or tanks them, if you're down with the lingo) while I focus the attacks of both the monk and the witch on individual enemies until everything is dead. Rinse and repeat with each wave of bad guys, paying special attention to prioritizing keeping monsters off both the bard and cleric.
How you do all this really is the clever part of Battleheart. It's entirely touch driven, so having the cleric heal my monk is as simple as drawing a line originating from the cleric and ending at the monk. Similarly, having the monk run after an enemy and attack it is as easy as drawing a link from the monk to the baddie. It's even multitouch friendly, so commanding both my monk and witch to attack a single target just amounts to using two fingers to draw lines from both of them converging on a single enemy. To move your party members around, you draw lines the same way, only ending the line at wherever you want to move them to.
Using this incredibly simple interface method, you're able to run what essentially amounts to a four player MMORPG party all by yourself. It all goes together very well, and really feels like a similar experience as you're rushing to pull monsters off your healer while rotating healing around, focus firing enemies down, and using various forms of crowd control. Enemies aren't completely mindless either, with some that won't just contently beat on your tank, and instead will go directly after your healer. Some enemies are healers as well, and you'll need to drop everything and slay them as soon as possible. The list goes on and on.
Tapping a particular unit during a battle selects it, at which point you're able to use various active abilities by tapping their icons on the top of the menu. These abilities vary wildly, and really encourage you to try mixing and matching different party members to see which ones you like. The whole reason I've found myself preferring the monk, for example, is his starter ability attacks everything on screen which is incredibly useful when a huge wave of monsters appears and they're running everywhere attacking random party members. Similarly, the witch gains an area effect damage over time spell, which works great once I get all the monsters stacked up and attacking my monk. The cleric has an ability that shields its target for a brief period of time, which allows my monk to easily take the damage of everything beating on it.
It's crazy how it seems no matter which classes you mix and match, you always seem to have abilities that compliment each other. Also, as your characters level up, every five levels they unlock an additional pair of abilities that you must choose from. These can be switched at any time in between battles, allowing even more customization and party synergy. Sometimes these choices will be two entirely different active abilities, or sometimes they'll be two similar passive abilities with different effects. In the case of the bard, you're given the option to have his song either give an additional 50% damage bonus, or an additional 50% armor bonus.
As you begin to master micromanaging your party, the game throws curveballs at you in the way of challenging boss battles. My favorite is a slime boss, with gimmicks that will be familiar to anyone who has been through Naxxramas in World of Warcraft. In the first phase, it's a big fat slime that spews pools of acid at your party members. These pools cause damage, causing you to keep your entire party moving to avoid them. Just when you think it's about to die, it splits in explodes in to tons of tiny slimes that get blown to the edges of the screen. They all slowly creep together, and combine back in to the main slime. The fight goes like this until you're successfully able to kill all the little slimes before they reform. It's a ton of fun.
The only real drawback of the game, if you'd even call it that, is the lack of any kind of in-game documentation. I actually found myself enjoying the fact that the game doesn't hold your hand through everything, as it gives it almost a retro air of discovery about it when you figure out what purpose a particular class serves. If this isn't your cup of tea, the thread in our forums offers an exhaustive amount of information about basically every class, ability, and equipment upgrade you'll come across on your quest.
If you can't tell by now, I really have nothing but good things to say about Battleheart. It successfully scratches the MMORPG itch of party-based combat while being a completely pick up and play game single player game. To sweeten the deal, it's even universal, with graphics optimized for the Retina Display if you're playing on a newer device. I've found myself preferring playing on the iPad, but the game is just as good on the iPhone. Another great thing that's been pointed out by our community is that Battleheart works great as a two player game, with each person responsible for half the party thanks to the multitouch input. The fantastic graphics are also cartoony enough and gore-free that you can even share the experience with kids without issue.
Battleheart is an absolutely effortless recommendation.
Call me crazy, but I really want a Real Racing 2 [$4.99] update subtitled “Real Harder.” It would include new animations, tweaked drifting physics, and exciting dashboard options like, say, the choice between tape decks or CD players. But in the real world, where stupid stuff like my fantasy patch never happens, this latest Real Racing 2 update will do, as it includes six new events, leaderboards and rankings, and cool multiplayer tweaks.
Let’s dive in. On the online front, Firemint notes that the update is putting the breaks on unsavory drivers by dropping in “new measures” to prevent idiocy. Also, the servers have been given some sort of spit and shine which should lead to better performance.
Of course, because of the new rankings, two changes have been made: now your starting position will be based on your rank, and more importantly, lobbies will show your rank and point rewards as you earn them.
As for those new events, here’s what you’ll get:
IEJ Blue Ribbon (Cup)
Alkeisha Island Dash (Head to Head)
Volvo STCC Elimination (Elimination)
NRGee 6 Cyl Cup (Cup)
Motul Autech Face-off (Head to Head)
Twilight Time Attack (Time Trial)
That’s a lot of content, eh? Wait -- I got a name for this update: “Drive Free or Event Hard.” Not bad, right? I should get a job. Marketers, you got my number. Give me a call sometime. I’m full of this.
Fear not, Angry Birds fans, for more content is now available for your game of choice. In between their frequent dips in their money bin, the folks at Rovio Mobile managed to find the time to drop another update to its season version of Angry Birds, aptly titled Angry Birds Seasons [.99 / HD]. This time, it’s Valentine’s Day content.
As usual, you’ll find more swine to slay, though you’ll be stomping the little green fellas in levels with soft shades of pinks, blues, and reds. Also, as you’ll notice here, the structures in levels tackle Valentine’s themes and as if that wasn’t enough, there’s also fluffy little hearts that float. Overall, you're getting 15 levels and several new Achievements to earn.
Both versions of the game, the HD for iPad and the regular iPod and iPhone version, have received this update, so definitely go check this out if you’ve got a few more minutes. Or, hey, if you’re got a lot of time on your hands, send a Valentine’s Card from the game. Kidding (or am I!?)
In other news, Angry Birds [99¢ / HD] proper played a (very small) part in the Super Bowl last night, as a hidden code was featured in an ad for the upcoming movie Rio. Videos of anything to do with the Super Bowl or Super Bowl commercials have been disappearing from YouTube all day, but here's a decent one that's still up of the ad:
To unlock the secret level, go to level 13-12, and shoot the white bird backwards to bomb the hill that the birds are on. A football shaped golden egg will appear, which will then allow you to play a special Rio level. Upon beating said level, you'll be prompted to enter a contest to go to a special screening of the movie in Rio de Janeiro. If you don't feel like jumping through all of these hoops, you could just click here and enter the contest but that seems like much less fun.
Last Friday we posted about NBA Jam's inevitable arrival to the App Store, and mentioned screenshots coming soon. Well, EA one-upped the whole screenshots thing by releasing a fantastic little teaser video with just enough gameplay shown to get me really really excited:
According to the info EA has also sent our way regarding the game, it's coming packed with all 30 NBA teams including favorite NBA stars. But what would an NBA Jam game be without unlockables and secret characters? Well, the iOS version is coming packed with those too. They've even teased big head mode. Currently, two modes of play are being discussed: An instant game mode where you select a team and are thrown in to a basketball game as well as a campaign more where you defeat other teams to unlock various goodies.
Still no mention of multiplayer, but I've got my fingers and toes crossed that there's at least some kind of multiplayer as that was always my favorite way to play NBA Jam. Even two player bluetooth multiplayer would make me squeal with glee.
We've seen our fair share of cringe-worthy Gameloft clones over the years, but this one takes the cake. StarFront: Collision seems to be directly "inspired" by StarCraft, complete with Gameloft's version of the Terran, Protoss, and Zerg. These three factions wage a war over Xenodium crystals on the planet Sinistral in realtime strategy battles that actually look pretty decent in the following gameplay trailer:
What's definitely got my interest piqued is the inclusion of four player online multiplayer, which potentially could be loads of fun. I'm also curious how the game actually plays on the iPhone, as RTS games on the device all have fairly cluttered UI's, and it seems like StarFront does as well. StarFront: Collision will be available this Thursday, and it will be interesting to see if Gameloft sticks to the Sacred Odyssey method of payment where the game is free with an IAP to unlock the rest of the game.
Also, according to the description of this trailer, StarFront is also only going to run on 3rd and 4th generation iPod touch and iPhone hardware. Is this the end of Gameloft supporting older devices?
Nothing says “business” quite like a baseball video game with the word “baseball” in the title, so make sure you’re sitting down for this one: Square Enix Europe has announced a game called Big Hit Baseball for the iOS.
Slated to release “soon” on the App Store and created by Beautiful Game Studios, Big Hit Baseball looks to be more of an arcade joint as opposed to a straight-faced simulation like, say MLB: The Show or whatever on the big consoles. In the press release issued this morning about the game, Square notes the “frantic” nature of the game and also talks up the fact that Big Hit features a total of three cup tournaments and 20 different teams.
Fans of Big Cup Cricket [.99 / Lite] and Championship Manager rejoice -- not only is your dev of choice involved in this project, but Square is heavily suggesting that Big Hit Baseball is being built off the foundation of those two games. Also, get ready for this: Big Hit will include a name editor. Now, there's no excuse for not having an entire team of Brad Nicholsons.
If you’re a fan of playing App Store QB at home, then this World of Goo [$4.99] post-mortem piece is definite must-read toilet material. In the blog posting, game creator 2D Boy talks about the sales and problems with keeping our GOTY at the top of the charts and even takes the time to discuss points of design users weren’t fans of, the promotion of the game to press, the release timing, and its overall observations about the project.
It’s been, oh, a little over two hours since the last dual-stick shooter hit the App Store, so I doubt you’ve been wanting for a game like Infinity Field [$
"Zombie" is a great example of the more abstract of the offerings. This mode has you firing a special attack stream that incapacitates the vast majority of enemies, but doesn’t clear them off the map. Interestingly, the only way you can kill these “dead” foes is by hitting a bomb power-up that appears every so often.
The one spot I’d criticize are the visuals in particular. While the particle stuff on the explosions are great, I think the art comes off as a little flat. The game just doesn’t pop like it should. Also, the look is very Geometry Wars, which is a bummer. There's still room for creative interpretations of retro-style shooters.
Back in January of last year, developer Gaia released a unique game into the App Store called Sword & Poker [
We 
In my time with TouchArcade, I've played a lot of games. Heck, a good chunk of my day is devoted to picking up where I left off the previous day on the 
Call me crazy, but I really want a Real Racing 2 [$
Nothing says “business” quite like a baseball video game with the word “baseball” in the title, so make sure you’re sitting down for this one: Square Enix Europe has announced a game called Big Hit Baseball for the iOS.
